Falling Snow Winter Card...and some venting :)

I really like how this card turned out. It is a case of this card that I found on SCS. I love how versatile the Seasons of Friendship stamp set is! This will probably be the last Christmasy card you see from me for a while, though. I was planning on doing a craft fair (as you may know) in November, so that's why I had jump started on all of these Christmas projects; however, due to time and money constraints I am deciding against it....my two other downline members are still going to participate, so I will post pictures of their booth. I am bummed to not be participating, but I was really stressing about it and was beginning to care less about stamping anymore. It went from something I couldn't wait to do, to something that I never wanted to see again. So I apologize if my posts start to spread out, but I really just want to take some time away (I have a few orders that I will post once they are complete as well as some Halloween ideas that I want to do for staff at work) and not focus so much on stamping. I've noticed my creativity lacking recently and I feel it's because of all the pressure I was putting on myself (along with everything else I have going on at home and at my "real" job). I'm also not sure if I will be holding anymore classes as I've been really disappointed in the attendance. As you other demos know, a lot of time and effort goes into planning and preparing a class and to only have a few people show up isn't worth it...what's worse, is I always have someone cancel the day of, which is also frustrating.

Now that I have that out of the way...here are the details about the card :)

Stamps: Season of Friendship

Paper: Kraft, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Riding Hood Red Ribbon (retired), Heat Gun

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Kraft at 5 1/2 and fold on score line.

2. Stamp snowflake from Season of Friendship all over using Whisper White ink. Heat set.

3. Cut Whisper White to 4 1/4 x 2 and 4 1/4 x 3. Cut hills along the long side of each piece. Sponge with Bashful Blue ink.

4. Stamp tree from Season of Friendship with Chocolate Chip onto scrap piece of Whisper White and cut out. Stamp bird using Real Red and cut out.

5. Adhere snow hills, tree, and bird to card base.

6. Cut 4 1/4 x 1 of Bashful Blue and 4 1/4 x 3/4 Chocolate Chip. Adhere together. Tie ribbon around strip. Use White gel pen to create "stitch marks" along Bashful Blue.

7. Adhere strip to card base.

A Halloween Birthday

As mentioned yesterday, I am working on a big card order right now. Two cards that she needed are Halloween themed birthday cards. Halloween is by far my favorite holiday, so I would LOVE to receive a Halloween themed birthday card (hint hint, my birthday is in May!). For this card I used my favorite set as of late, Seasons of Friendship, along with the new Spooky Treats rub ons. I love that both black and white come in the same package because then you can use them on any color. Plus, unlike stamps, which you can sometimes mess up by stamping crooked or not fully inking the image, you CANNOT mess up a rub on and get perfect placement every time! Even if you notice the image is not fully transfered, simply lay it back down and keep rubbing until it is!

I will post the second Halloween themed birthday card tomorrow :)

Stamps: Seasons of Friendship, Eat Drink and Be Scary
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black, Whisper White, Summer Sun
Ink: Basic Black Craft, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Colluzle, Clear EP, Heat Gun, Sponges, Horizontal Slot Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Spooky Treats Rub Ons, Pumpkin Pie Striped Ribbon, SU Markers, Dimentionals

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Elegant Eggplant at 5 1/2 and fold on score line.
2. Cut a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Whisper White and a 3 3/4 x 5 piece of Basic Black. Punch all corners with Ticket Corner punch. Adhere layers together.
3. Use the Colluzle to cut out 6th largest circle onto a piece of Elegant Eggplant. Cut out the 3rd largest circle onto a piece of Summer Sun. Sponge edges of smaller circle with Pumpkin Pie ink.
4. Adhere "moon" circle to Eggplant circle. Stamp tree image onto circle using Basic Black Craft ink. Emboss with clear embossing powder.
5. Adhere the black crow rub on to one of the branches using the applicator that comes in the package.
6. Adhere circles to Basic Black layer.
7. Use Horizontal Slot Punch on the black and white layers to punch a slot on the left side. Feed Pumpkin Pie ribbon through and around to the right of the cardstock, tieing a knot in the front.
8. Adhere "spooky" rub on in white underneath the ribbon.
9. Adhere layers to Eggplant card base using dimentionals
10. For the inside, layer a 3 3/4 x 5 piece of Whisper White onto a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Basic Black (both of which you will Ticket Punch the corners).
11. Use SU Markers in Pumpkin Pie and Elegant Eggplant to color directly onto "Eat, Drink, and Be Scary" stamp and stamp onto Whisper White layer.

Seasons of Friendship Re-Do

These might look familiar! I posted this a few days ago, however, I wasn't 100% happy with how they turned out because, if you look closely, you can see all the places the ink had smeared. To be honest, once I made these ones today, I was going to go back and change the picture on the old post and not mention a word; but I thought I'd share with you the lessons I learned.

I did some more research on tile coasters and saw that most of the stampers who posted them had purchased their tiles at Home Depot. I had got mine at Lowes. I went to Home Depot and discovered that they have a much bigger tile selection! I didn't realize until I stamped on them that the tiles from Lowes had already been pre-sealed. That was the only type they had. At Home Depot, though, you can find just plain tumbled tiles. I could tell a difference as soon as I placed the stamp down! On the ones from Lowes, you could feel your stamp wanting to slide away. These ones also sealed better. Even after baking and spraying sealer on the Lowes tiles, I could still smear the ink (as you can see in the picture from a few days ago). Joe decided to test these ones by rubbing his sweaty glass around on them and they held up! I also found a self adhesive felt at Michael's that I just cut to size for the backs. Super easy!

I couldn't wait to put these to use! Here are pictures of what they look like on my two end tables in our living room.

There is a clue in this picture as to where we got our dog's name from...can you find it? (you might have to make the picture bigger)

There are still spots left in class for Friday, August 21! Let me know ASAP if you'd like to make these great tiles (now that I figured out how to do them right!)

Seasons of Friendship Coasters

The Seasons of Friendship stamp set has got to be one of my most favorite! I just love anything that has to do with seasons! :) These are the tile coasters that we are going to be making at my workshop next Friday! I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. All that I have left to do is get either cork or felt for the backs of them and they will be ready for use in my living room! I also found a really easy tutorial for photo tiles that I am going to have to try, so watch for that soon!

Antique Store Set #2

This is the second box of cards that I will be taking to the Market Place on Main. It was made with the Seasons of Friendship stamp set. I was so excited to see that this set was back in the new catalog. I love to make sets of cards or gifts and I knew this would be a perfect stamp set for doing so! The cards themselves are very simple, but I think they turned out really cute. I also used the Big Shot Top Note Die on the inside as well.

Same box as the other set, just tied slightly different.

Here is a closeup of the tag.

And the inside.

Stamps: Season of Friendship

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Garden Green, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Green Galore, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Old Olive

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, White Organza Ribbon

Fancy Favor Made with 8 1/2 x 11

As you can see, today's bag is very similar to yesterdays... however, this bag was made using an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock instead of a 12x12 piece. I knew there had to be a way to do it and found the solution! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the process, but the directions should be easy to follow for those occasions when you don't have a 12x12 of the cardstock you want to use!

1. Cut your cardstock to 6x11.

2. Cut the remaining strip to 6 x 2 1/2.

3. Adhere the small strip to the longer strip.

4. Line up the cardstock on the die so that the seam occurs AFTER the score line for the flap of the bag (if you lay it before the score line of the flap, you will have a seam on the front of your bag).

5. Run through the Big Shot and score creased lines.

6. When you fold your bag together, you will notice a small strip of paper that extends past the crease line of the flap. Simply snip this off at the score line and you can adhere your bag together!

Stamps: Holiday Best, Seasons of Friendship

Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink: Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Favor Die, Scalloped Oval Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, SU Markers, Chocolate Chip Ribbon